Slide fastener installation

ABSTRACT

A slide fastener installation and method for making same is disclosed wherein the slide fastener includes a woven or knitted fabric having a pair of fabric sections and a slide fastener attached thereto by fused means produced by an ultrasonic welder or dielectric sealing apparatus.

United States Patent 1191 Van Amburg SLIDE FASTENER INSTALLATION [75] lnventor: William F. Van Ambur g, Meadville,

[73] Assignee: Textron Inc., Providence, R1.

[22] Filed: Apr. 12, 1973 [21] Appl. N0.: 350,658

52] us. 01 ..24/205.16 1), 24/20511 F, a A M 24/205. 1 R, 2/265 151 1m.c1. ..A44b 19/34, A44b 19/00 58 51 1 1 of Search... 24/2051 R, 205.16, 205.11 1 24/205.16 R, 205.11 R; 2/2.1, 265, 108; 112/265 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,470,251 5/1949 Kolbert 24/205.16 R

1451 Feb. 18, 1975 2,674,559 4/1954 Zohel 247205.16 R 2,768,922 l0/l956 Klein 24/20516 R 3,002,478 10/1961 Duchan 2/265 3,561,073 2/l97l ROSSCI 247205.16 R 3,685,103 8/1972 Severino 24/2()5.l6 R 3,785,014 1/1974 Canepa 24/205161 R Primary Examiner-Bernard A. Gelak [5 7] ABSTRACT A slide fastener installation and method for making same is disclosed wherein the slide fastener includes a woven or knitted fabric having a pair of fabric sections and a slide fastener attached thereto by fused means produced by an ultrasonic welder or dielectric sealing apparatus.

7 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures FATENTEU FEB 1 8 sum 1 W 2 FIG-3 sum; FASTENER INSTALLATION BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to slide fastener installations and a method of producing same and more particularly to the retention of the carrier tapes of the slide fastener by woven or knitted fabrics.

2. Description of the Prior Art In installing a slide fastener in a woven or knitted fabric, it has been a general practice in the past to sew the carrier tapes of the slide fastener to respective sections of the fabric by utilizing a sewing machine having a special pressure foot designed for use with the particular type of fastener being attached. Certain disadvantages have long been known in the stitching method of installing a slide fastener such as the need for the special pressure foot noted above, the need to match the stitching thread color with that of the fabric, and the general or overall complexity and awkwardness of the sewing operation resulting in excessively large time consumption for each slide fastener installation.

As an alternative to such stitch bonding, adhesives have been utilized to bond the slide fastener to the fabric. The adhesives are usually in strip form and are disposed between the fabric sections and the carrier tapes of the slide fastener after which they are heat settable by the application of a heat source such as an electrical ironing appliance or the like.

However, with the advent of fabrics made from artificially made fibers such as double knit polyester, which inherently are quite stretchable, the above discussed stitch bonding and adhesive bonding practices applied to such fabrics have been found to be not fully satisfactory in that resulting products were not always uniform in appearance, the opening in the material was not always correctly positioned and the time consumed to complete each slide fastener installation was unsatisfactorily high.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is summarized in a slide fastener installation and a method of producing same, wherein the slide fastener installation includes a pair of fabric sections having edges disposed adjacent each other to define an opening therebetween, a slide fastener having a pair of carrier tapes respectively engaging the fabric sections adjacent the edges thereof, the fabric sections and the carrier tapes being made of compatibly fusible materials, and fused means securing each carrier tape to its corresponding fabric section adjacent the edge thereof.

It is an object of the present invention to fusibly secure a slide fastener to a woven or knitted fabric.

Another object of this invention is to produce a correctly positioned slide fastener installation.

Yet another object of this invention is to make a slide fastener installation without the need for a preliminary center cut in a fabric.

A further object of this invention is to create a uniformly appearing slide fastener installation.

Still another object of this invention is to reduce the time required to produce a slide fastener installation.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiment when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective-view with parts broken away of a slide fastener installation in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of the slide fastener installation taken along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partial plan view of an inverted garment and a slide fastener positioned therein before fusing a carrier tape to a fabric section of the garment;

FIG. 4 is an end view of the garment and slide fastener of FIG. 3 disposed on a fusing apparatus;

FIG. 5 is a partial plan view of a fabric section overlaying the slide fastener and remaining fabric section on an anvil of the fusing apparatus;

FIG. 6 is an end view of the garment and slide fastener of FIG. 5 disposed on the fusing apparatus; and

FIG. 7 is a side view of the garment and slide fastener disposed on the fusing apparatus.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a slide fastener installation in accordance with an aspect of the present invention includes a woven or knitted fabric 10 having an open mesh construction, which for exemplary purposes will take the form of a garment, having the carrier tapes 12 and 14 of a slide fastener 16. fused thereto. The slide fastener 16 may be of any general type, and additionally includes a set of interlocking elements disposed along adjacent inner edges of carrier tapes l2 and 14 which are selectively engageable and disengageable in accordance with movement of a slider having a pull tab actuator in a known manner.

Although fabric 10 will be particularly referred to as a garment, the present invention is intended to encompass fabrics having diverse forms and uses. The garment l0 and the carrier tapes [2 and 14 are made of fabric materials which are compatible for fusing by an ultrasonic welder or dielectric'sealing apparatus, which includes fabrics made of synthetic fibers of plastic type, as well as fabric of diverse types which contains suitable amounts of such synthetic fibers for fusing purpose.-In one particular example the fabric was a double knit polyester and the carrier tapes were also polyester.

Garment 10 includes a pair of fabric sections 18 and 20 which may be integral or may be separate pieces of fabric. Fabric sections 18 and 20 have edge portions 22 and 24 superimposed over the sides of each carrier tape 12 and 14. The edge portions 22 and 24 may be folded under the fabric sections 18 and 20 as shown. The fabric sections 18 and 20 also include an integral folded under tab portion 26 superimposed over the bottom or end of both carrier tapes l2 and 14.

A pair of fused portions 28 and 30, taking the form of tracks, extends substantially over the length of folded under portion 22, and another pair of fused portions 32 and 34 extends over the length of folded under portion 24 in a similar manner. Another fused portion 36, also in the form of a track, is disposed along folded under tab portion 26 in a transverse direction to the longitudinal direction of the slide fastener. Although the fused portions 28, 30, 32, 34, and 36 have been described as tracks, some of which are in pairs, such should be considered merely exemplary in that they may take other forms or configurations, and may occur singly or in multiples at any given area, in accordance with the particular fabrics employed and the bonding strength required for any given application.

In the method of producing the slide fastener installation of FIGS. 1 and 2, the slide fastener 16 and fabric sections 18 and 20 are superimposed, with the pull tab side of slide fastener 16 abutting one of the fabric sections, such as fabric section 18 as shown in FIG. 3. An outer longitudinal edge of the slide fastener 16 is posi tioned to coincide with an imaginary center line demarcating fabric sections 18 and 20 and indicating the center of the slide fastener when finally installed.

In cases where the fabric or garment 10 has normal inner and outer surfaces, it is first inverted such that its normal inner surface temporarily becomes the outer surface, and vice versa. Thereafter, slide fastener 16 is positioned within the garment 10 with its front or pull tab side positioned up such that it abuts the normal outer surface now temporarily positioned inside.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 4, the garment l and slide fastener 16 are fused together to define a pair of parallel fused portions 28 and 30 along the length of one carrier tape 12 by a fusing apparatus 42 including an anvil 44 and movable head member 46, such as an ultrasonic welder or a dielectric sealing apparatus. The center line in the garment defined by the longitudinal edge of carrier tape 12 positioned as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, if not having initially been cut, may be cut at this time, such as by the fusing apparatus 42 or mechanically. The cut will basically take the form of a straight line which terminates with a substantially U- shaped cut which opens away from the straight line to form tab 26.

After the first carrier tape 12 of the slide fastener 12 has been fused to the fabric section 18, the slide fastener 16, led by carrier tape 14, is pulled through the cut center line opening and rotated 360 about a longitudinal axis of the fused carrier tape 12 to lie with its front or pull tab side positioned up again. The free edge of fabric section defined by the center line cut is then placed over the remaining carrier tape 14 of slide fastener 16 such that the longitudinal edges are superimposed, as shown in FIG. 5, and they are thereafter fused together (FIG. 6) by the fusing apparatus 42 along the length of the carrier tape 14 to define two parallel tracks in the same manner as the first carrier tape 12 was fused to fabric section 18.

Finally, the garment 10 is re-inverted such that its normal outer surface is repositioned outside, and the slide fastener 16 is placed on anvil 44 of fusing apparatus 42 beneath a single track fusing head member 56 with its front or pull tab side facingup. The bottom portion of garment 10 is folded back to expose the bottom of the carrier tapes 12 and 14 and tab portion 26 superimposed thereon which is positioned to extend toward the bottom of carrier tapes l2 and 14, and the tab portion 26 is fused to the carrier tapes l2 and 14.

The slide fastener installation produced in accordance with an aspect of the present invention is advantageous in that it is durable and uniform in appearance and is attractive to the eye inasmuch as the fused portions are straight and uniform and accordingly result in a uniform interface between each fabric section and its respective carrier tape.

The method of producing a slide fastener installation in accordance with another aspect of the present invention is advantageous in that no additional materials such as thread or adhesive are required to unite the fabric sections to the carrier tapes; the fabric is not required to be preliminarily cut between the fabric sections; and the use of the longitudinal edges of the carrier tapes as a reference to align the edges of the fabric sections to be fused thereto facilitates quick and easy installation of the slide fastener in a very precise manner thereby reducing the overall time required to produce a completed slide fastener installation.

Inasmuch as the present invention is subject to many variations, modifications and changes in detail, it is intended that all matter contained in the foregoing description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

l. A slide fastener installation comprising:

a pair of fabric sections having edges disposed adjacent each other to define an opening therebetween;

a slide fastener having a pair of carrier tapes respectively engaging said fabric sections adjacent the edges;

said fabric sections and said carrier tapes being made of compatibly fusible materials;

said pair of carrier tapes having opposed ends facing each other at one end of the opening;

fused means securing each carrier tape to its corresponding fabric section adjacent the edge;

a fabric section along its edge having a transversely extending portion at the one end of the opening, the transversely extending portion including a tab folded thereunder and overlapping at least one end of the opposed ends of the carrier tapes; and said fused means securing the folded under tab to the one end of said carrier tapes.

2. The slide fastener installation of claim 1 wherein the fabric sections are double knit polyester.

3. The slide fastener installation of claim 1 wherein the edge of each fabric section has a folded under portion overlaying its respective carrier tape apart from the folded under tab, and said fused means comprises a pair of fused tracks in each folded under portion.

4. The slide fastener installation of claim 1 wherein said fused means includes a fused track in said folded under tab.

5. The slide fastener installation of claim 1 wherein the carrier tapes are made of a polyester fabric.

6. The slider fastener installation of claim 1 wherein said fused means comprises ultrasonic weld means.

7. The slide fastener installation of claim 1 wherein said fused means comprises dielectric sealing means. 

1. A slide fastener installation comprising: a pair of fabric sections having edges disposed adjaceNt each other to define an opening therebetween; a slide fastener having a pair of carrier tapes respectively engaging said fabric sections adjacent the edges; said fabric sections and said carrier tapes being made of compatibly fusible materials; said pair of carrier tapes having opposed ends facing each other at one end of the opening; fused means securing each carrier tape to its corresponding fabric section adjacent the edge; a fabric section along its edge having a transversely extending portion at the one end of the opening, the transversely extending portion including a tab folded thereunder and overlapping at least one end of the opposed ends of the carrier tapes; and said fused means securing the folded under tab to the one end of said carrier tapes.
 2. The slide fastener installation of claim 1 wherein the fabric sections are double knit polyester.
 3. The slide fastener installation of claim 1 wherein the edge of each fabric section has a folded under portion overlaying its respective carrier tape apart from the folded under tab, and said fused means comprises a pair of fused tracks in each folded under portion.
 4. The slide fastener installation of claim 1 wherein said fused means includes a fused track in said folded under tab.
 5. The slide fastener installation of claim 1 wherein the carrier tapes are made of a polyester fabric.
 6. The slider fastener installation of claim 1 wherein said fused means comprises ultrasonic weld means.
 7. The slide fastener installation of claim 1 wherein said fused means comprises dielectric sealing means. 